Third time lucky as they say. Ms Fashionista was down here for a weekend and the Boy and I decided to take her out to try out the dinner and dessert menu at il Fornaio.

She must have been our lucky charm! We got a seating (we were early, 6pm – the person over the phone told us that it is super busy around 8pm –> they don’t take bookings either)

We had an absoultely great night, with good food, fantastic dessert, great company and exceptional service! The last was indeed a pleasant surprise given our previous two visits here was a bit… err… how do I say… abrupt and interesting (let’s just leave it at that) albeit the food was good.

We put in a few savoury orders to share, but our main purpose for the night was of course to try their dessert menu… my eyes scanned the menu and rested at the “Sweets” section and had an extremely hard time deciding what to order… Between the 3 of us, I decided we could do two appetizers, one main and 3 desserts (all to share of course)…

So for starters we had a Lentil and ham hock terrine with Dijon and cornichons (a type of gherkin)… $18

Whilst the terrine was fabulous and went really well with the crispy toasted bread, the Dijon mustard really didn’t add much to the flavouring or the dish

Next we had a serving of Home smoked salmon classically garnished (served with egg, capers & creme fraiche $ 17)

This was delicious, but again it wasn’t outstanding or special… and the toasted white bread that came with it was a bit err.. over buttery

For the mains, we tried the special of the day, which was a roast lamb dish with a bean salad (I can’t remember the price, but I’m sure it was in the high 20’s)

We were quite pleased with the service at this stage, our nice waittress checked on us often enough (but not intrusively) and continuously topped up our water!

A snapshot of dinner

But I was eager to eat my dinner quickly as I knew that dessert was on the way! And what a spectacular round of dessert it was…

Million Dollar Bullet $22

First up was the Million Dollar Bullet and boy did it look a Million BUCKS! The chocolate was really dense and intense…. the licorice ice-cream was an absolute divine pairing with the intensity of the chocolate… just amazing really…

Snow White & Rose Red $18

The Snow White and Rose Red arrived with a pair of beautiful Meringue Wings (I wish I could do that) and sugared rose petals…

Ms Fashionista commented that it reminded her of “Air Bandung” (which directly translated means Bandung Water –> as in the place in Indonesia)… Air (pronounced, ah-ye) Bandung is a rose syrup milk drink…

I didn’t think about the similarities until she pointed it out.. I’d rather have this dessert tho 🙂

haha this is so epic, 3 posts one after the other (and not only that its 3 separate visits)… sheer dedication and determination!It's a pity the savoury foods aren't as spectacular, but one should keep in mind Philipa is a specialty pastry chef =).

I'm such a sweet tooth – I get cranky when restaurants don't give me the dessert menu at the beginning, 'cause I always want to plan around dessert, like you have here! 🙂 The Snickers dessert sounds AMAZING but I particularly was the licorice ice cream 🙂